Highland Park Shooter Considered Targeting Wisconsin Event: Police

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — Authorities said the gunman who fatally shot seven people from a rooftop overlooking the Highland Park 4th of July parade considered carrying out a second shooting Monday at an Independence Day celebration in Madison, Wisconsin.

Robert "Bobby" Crimo III was ordered held without bond Wednesday at his initial court appearance in Waukegan on seven counts of first-degree murder.

Lake County Associate Judge Theodore Potkonjak determined Crimo posed a "specific and present threat to the community" after prosecutors laid out the evidence against the 21-year-old Highwood resident.

Following the hearing, authorities revealed new details about what happened after Crimo fled the scene of the shooting.

According to Chris Covelli, spokesperson for the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force, Crimo went to his mother's house and, from there, drove to Wisconsin in a Honda with another rifle he owned — a Kel-Tec SUB-2000 — and about 60 additional rounds of ammunition.

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"It appears that when he drove to Madison, he was driving around, however he did see a celebration that was occurring in Madison and he seriously contemplated using the firearm he had in his vehicle to commit another shooting," Covelli said.

But he decided against it, Covelli said, seemingly because he had not put enough thought and research into it.

Officials said Crimo's cell phone was found in the 6500 block of Middletown Avenue in Madison, but it was not known why he left it there.

According to police and prosecutors, Crimo waived his right to an attorney before confessing to firing more than 80 shots from a high-powered rifle into the crowd as Highland Park families and their friends and relatives attended and paraded in their first in-person July 4 celebrations in years.

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Authorities released the names of six of the victims Tuesday. The seventh victim, who died at Evanston Hospital from his injuries a day after the shooting, was identified Wednesday. Nearly 40 people were treated for gunshot wounds in area hospitals.

Five people died at the scene of the shooting, officials said: Jacquelyn "Jacki" Sundheim, 63, of Highland Park; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, of Morelos, Mexico; Katherine Goldstein, 64, of Highland Park; Irina McCarthy, 35, of Highland Park; and Kevin McCarthy, 37, of Highland Park.

Stephen Straus, 88, of Highland Park, died Monday at an area hospital. Edward Uvaldo, 69, of Waukegan, died of his wounds on Tuesday.

Read more: 2-Year-Old Orphaned After Parents Killed In Highland Park Shooting

Assistant State's Attorney Ben Dillon said Crimo told investigators he had "dressed like a girl" and used makeup to cover up his many face tattoos because he thought people in town would recognize him.

The prosecutor said surveillance footage from just before the shooting shows Crimo walking east in an alley towards the back of a building at the northwest corner of Central Avenue and Second Street along the parade route.

Dillon said the shooter used the outside fire escape staircase of an attached building to gain access to the roof. A witness saw the person on the rooftop scanning the crowd with a gun and saw muzzle flashes from the roof, according to the prosecutor.

Crimo told police he "looked down his sights, aimed and opened fire at people across the street" with a Smith & Wesson M&P 15, an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle, Dillon said.

The 21-year-old gunman, who state police said had legally purchased the rifle with the sponsorship of his father in September 2020, reloaded the rifle with 30-round magazines twice during the shooting, according to Dillon.

The magazines were found dumped on the roof along with 83 spent shell casings, Dillon said. Crimo wrapped up the rifle and climbed down from the roof on a fire escape.

According to authorities, Crimo appears on surveillance video running down an alley with a black bag over his left shoulder. In the footage, they said, an object wrapped in cloth fell out of the bag onto the pavement, and Crimo left it and kept running.

The rifle, found in the alley wrapped in cloth, allowed federal investigators to trace the serial number and identify Crimo as a person of interest within hours.

At Wednesday's hearing, attorney Tom Durkin, who previously indicated he would represent Crimo, removed himself from the case, citing a "personal conflict of interest." Durkin, who said he was hired by Crimo's family, did briefly speak to Crimo but said he learned late Tuesday that he has a conflict of interest. He did not say what that conflict is.

Lake County Assistant Public Defender Gregory Ticsay, who said he had not yet had a chance to speak to Crimo, was assigned to serve as his attorney.

Crimo's parents have retained criminal defense attorney Steve Greenberg, who said in a statement that he is helping them cooperate with law enforcement.

"Their interest is not in getting their son out of trouble but in helping to further the conversation and the analysis so that maybe this stops happening in our country. I am certainly not defending what occurred, nor are they. This has everything to do with helping prevent another shooting from another young man," Greenberg said.

"When we are looking to cast blame should we look at the therapist that they took their son to who did not feel he needed therapy, the coworkers who did not think there was anything unusual, the friends who saw nothing troubling, or the people who watched his video for enjoyment and encouraged him to make more? Should we look at the state of Illinois which does not even ask on the consent form whether there have been any issues or any police contact, only if there have been convictions, or to the state police who renewed the man's FOID card when he turned 21 without any parental involvement, or the gun stores that sell anybody military grade assault weapons," the attorney asked rhetorically. "If we laser focus this on the parents then nothing is going to happen with the bigger picture and this will continue to happen in our country."

Covelli said investigators have not made any determination about Crimo's motive.

"His motivation isn't necessarily clear," Covelli said. "However, he had some type of affinity for the number 4 and 7, and inverse with 7/4 ... It apparently comes from music that he's interested in."

Earlier: Bobby Crimo Charged With 7 Counts Of Murder In Highland Park Shooting